1971 May Day protests

The 1971 May Day protests occurred from 1 to 3 May 1971 when members of the militant and destructive Mayday Tribe, the Yippies, and other anti-Vietnam War protesters demonstrated against the ongoing war in Washington DC. On 1 May, 35,000 protesters camped out in West Potomac Park near the Washington Monument to listen to rock music and plan for the coming action. On 2 May, President Richard Nixon cancelled the protest permits of the demonstrators, and the campers were scattered, with many of them causing an hours-long gridlock while leaving the city. On 3 May, 10,000 federal troops were sent into the city to disperse the protesters, and they made mass arrests and used tear gas to disperse the remaining 10,000 protesters. A total of 12,614 protesters were demonstrated, the largest mass arrest in US history. While the majority of the American public supported the arrests, they also believed that they were being lied to about the war, and the leak of the Pentagon Papers followed soon after.